Today, Farm Action Fund released its Trump-Vance administration transition paper, Securing America’s Food and Farm System. This paper outlines recommendations for how the administration can rebuild rural America and support independent farmers and ranchers in feeding their communities rather than further empowering abusive multinational and foreign corporations.
Farm Action Fund calls on the Trump-Vance administration to take on four key issues:
- America First: Give America’s Independent Farmers, Workers, and Small Businesses a Fighting Chance
- Buy American: Feed American Families With Food Grown on American Soil
- Make America Healthy Again: Support Farmers Producing Nutritious Foods
- Drain the Swamp: End Government Corruption Once and for All
Farm Action Fund President Joe Maxwell stated: “Our work is rooted in holding government accountable, stopping corporate monopolies, and building fair competition in rural America with the end goal of creating a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system. To that end, we see areas of opportunity in the incoming administration to move these goals forward.”
The current state of America’s food and farm system is entirely unrecognizable from just a few decades ago. Between the 2017 and 2022 censuses, more than 140,000 farmers lost their operations. As Farm Action’s Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub reveals, roughly three dozen corporations now dictate the lines of development and terms of trade for almost every industry involved in the growing, processing, and distribution of food in America.
Meanwhile, consumers and their families are paying more than ever for food, food insecurity continues to be high, diet-related chronic diseases are rising, and America now imports more of its nutritious fruits and vegetables from other countries, creating a record agricultural trade deficit.
Maxwell continued: “In order to Make America Healthy Again, this administration must level the playing field for our farmers and ranchers, support farmers in growing nutritious food for their communities, and appoint U.S. Department of Agriculture officials who are trusted by the people they are supposed to represent.”
As outlined in the transition paper, Farm Action Fund calls on the Trump-Vance administration to take actions like reforming the corrupt commodity checkoff programs, stopping foreign farmland ownership, improving risk management options for diversified and regenerative farms, and balancing the agriculture trade deficit, which is forecasted to reach a record $42.5 billion in 2025.
In conjunction with the release of the transition paper, Farm Action and Farm Action Fund will host a post-election briefing on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. ET to 4:45 p.m. ET to discuss the road ahead for anti-monopoly food and agriculture policy in both the White House and Congress. Register for the briefing here.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, 202-450-0094, enicolas@farmactionfund.us
